Antonio Blakeney chooses LSU

BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - LSU basketball head coach Johnny Jones reeled another big fish in the boat Friday, with a top 20 recruit deciding to become a Tiger.

Antonio Blakeney, a 6'4" shooting guard from Oak Ridge, Florida, announced on national television he will attend LSU. Blakeney originally was committed to powerhouse Louisville during the summer, before de-committing in mid-September.

It's without question a huge victory for LSU, which beat out another monster of a program, Kentucky, for the services of the player ranked No. 14 in the country by ESPN. He is averaging more than 30 points per game this season and said LSU may be known as a football school, but Jones and his staff are looking to change the culture.

Another big reason Blakeney said he'll be wearing purple and gold next year is Ben Simmons, the number one player in the entire country. Simmons has already signed with LSU. There are now talks of the Tigers being a preseason top 10 squad next year if big men Jordan Mickey and Jarell Martin return for their junior seasons.

While Jones cannot speak specifically on Blakeney yet, he said the signing of Simmons is leading the way to some great things ahead for LSU basketball.

"For us, Ben has been really, really good, because people know how unselfish he is and the phenomenal basketball player that he is," Jones said. "After his signing, a lot of attention really came our way from some of the top recruits in the country and we're excited about that."

The LSU basketball team will shoot for its eighth straight win on Saturday when the Tigers host Savannah State at 6 p.m.